CAS

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Appendix Z - A. Merritt

Appendix Z - A.
Merritt

A.
Merritt stands out as one of the most imaginative yet solidly based writers of
weird and mysterious fiction. His main characters were often heroes, but they
were men from the modern world (at least the modern world of the early 20th
century). His stories are adventures, but the places these adventures occur,
the societies, people and things that are encountered are as strange and compelling
as any thought out by Lovecraft or CAS, and his heroes as brave as any written
of by Howard. To me he seems overlooked, even more so than CAS, and yet his
stories encompass enough in detail and provide inspiration for worlds
undreamed.

(This
bibliography is snagged mostly from wikipedia so I need to double-check its
accuracy).

Novels

The
Moon Pool (fix-up, 1919)

(The
Moon Pool (1918) + Conquest of the Moon Pool (1919))

The
Metal Monster (1920)

The
Ship of Ishtar (1924)

Seven
Footprints to Satan (1927)

The
Face in the Abyss (fix-up, 1931))

(The
Face in the Abyss (1923) + The Snake Mother (1930))

Dwellers
in the Mirage (1932)

Burn
Witch Burn! (1932)

Creep,
Shadow! (1934)

Short
Stories

Through
The Dragon Glass (1917)

The
People Of The Pit (1918)

Three
Lines Of Old French (1919)

Prologue
(The Metal Monster, 1920)

The
Pool Of The Stone God (as W. Fenimore, 1923)

The
Woman Of The Wood (1926)

The
Women of the Wood (earlier version of The Woman Of The Wood, 1949)

The
Drone (aka The Drone Man, 1934)

The
Rhythm of the Spheres (original a chapter called The Last Poet And The Robots
(aka The Last Poet & the Wrongness of Space) in the 1934 round robin novel
titled Cosmos, revised in 1936 as a stand-alone work)

The
Whelming Of Cherkis (excerpt from The Metal Monster, 1946)

When
Old Gods Wake (fragment, 1948)

The
White Road (fragment, 1949)

The
Fox Woman (incomplete, 1949)

Pilgrimage,
or, Obi Giese (1985)

Bootleg
and Witches (fragment, 1985)

The
Devil in the Heart (outline, 1985)

The
Dwellers in the Mirage (original ending of the novel with same name, 1985)

Appendix N

Appendix N: (From Gygax's DMG)

Inspirational And Educational Reading

Inspiration for all of the fantasy work I have done stems from the love my father showed when I was a lad, for he sent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerors and dauntless swordsmen. Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence, in fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young, from fairy tales such as those written by the brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples. Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950. The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as just about any other imaginative writing or screenplay you will be able to pluck kernels from which grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Inspirational Reading:

Anderson, Poul. THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE, The BROKEN SWORD

Moorcock, Michael. STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" Series (esp. the first three books)

Norton, Andre.

Offut, Andrew J., editor SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III

Pratt, Fletcher. BLUE STAR; et al.

Saberhagen, Fred. CHANGELING EARTH; et al.

St. Clair, Margaret. THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE HOBBIT; "Ring Trilogy"

Vance, Jack. THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al.

Weinbaum, Stanley.

Wellman, Manly Wade.Williamson, Jack.

Zelazny, Roger. JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" Series; et al.

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt; but all the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For ythis reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.